Embodiments herein generally relate to a web feed system in a printing device, and more particularly to a web feed system that includes a compensation roll that keeps a constant tension on the web of print media as the movable transfer roller moves relative to the photoreceptor belt.
Contiguous label presses require the marriage of the photoreceptor continuous polyimide belt with a label stock (paper release/paper label or polymer release/polymer label) open loop web. The transfer of the image from the photoreceptor belt to the paper occurs at the fixed transfer roller along the photoreceptor belt. The photoreceptor belt has a seam that cannot be imaged. Therefore, a periodic retraction/engagement-disengagement of the web is necessary to skip the seam. This requires the paper to reverse and be reengaged to maintain a uniform gap label pitch between labels. Otherwise, a significant amount of waste would occur in the final label product stream. When the web is retracted by disengaging the biased (moveable) transfer roll from the fixed photoreceptor transfer roll, the web length changes and this can lead to high web tension changes, which can cause motion quality and image registration errors. This error can make the product unacceptable in the market due to poor image quality.